leathercloaksfandomcom-20200214-history
The World at large
Major Bodies of Water AA: Bay of Avitius BB: Blistering Sea CC:Lake Blackbream DD: The Smear EE: The Lake of Rainbows Regions A A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 C C1 C2 C3 D D1 E - Feanydd A fractured shell of the former Greater Kingdom of Feanydd. Years of poor kingship and courtly squabbling have left the throne bereft of authority and power. On the other hand, the barons have concentrated significant wealth into their hands and wield royal authority within their lands. Paying homage to the king is more of an amusing hobby than a serious gesture of fealty and King Garland the Impotent is not positioned to change these circumstances any time soon. E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 E13 E14 E15 E16 E17 E18 F - Calladon This rich coastal kingdom surrendered to the Avitian Empire under good terms to maintain most of their sovereignty. It is jointly ruled by Tribune Illios Pace and the Ascendant Matrix, a group of mysterious oligarchs. F1 - Vintner’s Roost: The well-developed northern countryside of Calladon produces wine and cheese that is respected throughout the region and beyond. F2 - F3 F4 - Salentry: A bustling port firmly under Imperial control, Salentry is home to Tribune Illios Pace. F5 F6 F7 - Gravantel: The central crossroad city of the region and home to the Ascendant Matrix. G - Baku Though large enough to be a kingdom in its own right, Baku is a loose confederation of bandit groups, outcast camps, cult strongholds, and fugitive bands. They are loyal to no one and share little in common with each other. However, all pay homage and heed the call of Khrind, a legendary hobgoblin commander. Each territory is loosely and informally divided amongst its inhabitants, but nothing about the borders, people, or economy are ever permanent here. ' ' G1 - Blutland: Controlled by the Handlers, Yule Knights, Hawks, and Vile Rats. Nothing nice comes from here. G2 - Samarkhand: Run by the White Hand, Beached Seals, Polemists, Revs, Quarrels, and Sadists. Trades in spice and whores. G3 - Khudz: Home of the Hulks, the Duer, Cockatrices, Bleakist Faith, Order of the Golem, and Rudolph’s Brigands. Trades in slaves, mercenaries, weapons, and paper. G4 - Taasken: Site of the Wereguard and Aegis monasteries and home to Croatoa the Great’s cult enclave. Each stays to themselves and all in the region are glad to leave them to it. They send emissaries or levies when called, but they make everyone uneasy. G5 - Baku: Home of Khrind and the Kukhris. Their uncontested control is more a tribute to the rumor that Khrind himself was the driving force behind the Rabble Army that stopped Avitian advances. G6 - Abyssal Caverns: Few groups large enough to deserve names inhabit the region. All in the region know of the great beasts and powers that dwell within the caverns and all respect their boundaries. G7 - Aralsk: Roved by Cossack caravans and Sarragossan Nomads. They’re hard people from a hard land and they breed the finest horses in the region. Water is hard to come by, so they mine ice deep within the earth, which is said to contain life-extending power. G8 - New Izlud: Legend has it that Ungri III of Izlud was defeated in the Abyssal Caverns and lost his portion of the kingdom to the darkness. His family followed him to an above-ground settlement of Izludite outcasts (mostly consisting of the maimed, deformed, and handicapped). As a result, their descendants have carried the traits of each community and bred a proud and powerful dwarven surface-city beset with nearly ubiquitous deformities and physical ailments. Their appearance has made them anathema to their far-flung brethren and targets of their neighbors. To keep others out, they cut the roads and planted fields of sharp stone around their city. G9 - Swan Heights: Ruled by the powerful elven Band of the Swan. They have made vassals of the other groups (a Redpate outpost, Varagi Raiders, Brogan-baile highlanders, and a drow enclave called Illune). The Swan’s power is managed by an ancient elven corsair, Reverie, whose deeds since the time of Kozaken-Hai’s dominion have earned him both admiration and ire. Due to recent events, he plays an unwilling second fiddle to Khrind and his band. Their primary trade is feudal-esque protection rackets, but they also weave fantastic textiles and train equally fantastic bards. H - Trebiz Trebiz is one of the oldest ports in the region and boasts the largest city-state this side of the Blistering Sea. The port itself dates back to the dwarven era, but is as wretched a hive of scum and villainy as any bandit-town in the interior. The major difference is that the players of Trebiz control the fates of many in the region because of their stranglehold on most trade routes. ' ' H1- Ephemerus: Terraced into slopes of elegant hills, this region hosts the villas, chateaus, and manors of Trebiz’s elite. H2 - The Port of Trebiz: One of the oldest and largest ports and home to many of the richest families in the region. H3 - Halicarn: A densely urban environment dominated by sprawling warehouse complexes owned by the great merchant houses of Trebiz. H4 - Nikara Flats: Mostly barren, arid, fallow land. However, it is the site of one of Izlud’s defunct metal mines and sees many visits from adventurers and Primophiles (archaeological enthusiasts). H5 - Khwazar Salt Mine: On the surface, this is an average salt mine manned by imported slave labor. It’s more popularly known as The Gorge: a large hard-labor prison that participates in the largest underground gladiatorial circuit in the region. H6 - Circassus: Home of the Circassian Knights, protectors of Trebiz and keepers of the Ancient Way. They represent an elevated military aristocracy with significant entitlements and access to long lost Izludian and Nogrish arms and armor. Their duopoly with the merchant families of Trebiz has been unchallenged for centuries. H7 - Trebuzite Plains: Heavily patrolled highways carve a web through this central region. Several small, but wealthy towns dot their way amongst the caravans going to and from Trebiz. H8 - Hattiland: Bards tell of a time before the empires of Izlud and Belgrod, a time when humans walked with ethereal beings in the meadows of Hattiland. That time has long past, but the Trappists have made these hallowed grounds the site of their majestic monasteries and epic feast-halls. H9 - Screeching Heights: Trebiz has long maintained this mountainous region as a lighthouse and coastal fortification against pirates from the south. The passes have been seeded with creatures that stand guard night and day. They feed on travellers and, occasionally, residents of neighboring regions. I - Chattel Coast An Avitian colony run by state-sponsored slavers and privateers. Their relatively recent and hostile arrival has exacerbated the hostility they face in most markets and on most roads outside of their borders and those of allied Calladon. ' ' I1 - Kazimir Fortress: Captured after a 12 year siege, the structure was rebuilt to guard the harbors that lead into the Bay of Avitius. Viceroy Glass has established his base here and continues to swell his forces. I2 - Rabble’s Ridge: Renamed for the vast army of peasants, hedge-knights, mercenaries, caravans, traders, and bandits that coalesced into a single mass to oppose further Avitian conquest. There was no battle, because the Avitian crusaders declined to slaughter the assembled people of the Bream; the empire’s conquest halted at the ridge. According to the bards, the defenders planted their scythes, sickles, hammers, picks, pitchforks, and shovels into the ground and formed a palisade that, though crumbling, still stands a decade later. J J1 J2 J3 J4 K K1 K2 K3 K4 L L1 L2 L3 M - Naeral Naeral was once the jewel of a mighty elven kingdom that conquered the known world with the might of its armies, its magic, and its culture. Now, it is a small haven in the Forest of Delusion. Its inhabitants are rarely sighted outside of its borders and the few who escape tell dark tales of the forest and their city. M1 - Blue Quarter: Once, the elves lit the forest with candles of pure starlight. The Blue Quarter still glows with some of these candles, though none who seek them ever return. M2 - Green Quarter: So dense with foliage and vegetation, this region has not been inhabited or explored for a thousand years. Rumors hint of devils within the bush, but even the bards refuse to speak of the place. M3 - Brown Quarter: Home of the town of Naeral and the only arable land within the leagues of the forest. Its people are skittish, but quite healthy. They welcome outsiders, even if only to encourage them to leave. M4 - Lost Quarter: It is quite simply gone. Many explorers and traders have tried to establish routes through its borders, but their maps and their surroundings never seem to match; as if they passed through a veil and into the next region over. N - The Blackbream This notoriously lawless region has been crushed repeatedly in war. Elves, dwarves, and two generations of humans have fought over this once lush land and reduced it to ruin atop of ruin. The locals, a fiercely disillusioned people, care little for kings, laws, or safe roads. ' ' N1 - Last Chance (Mario): An utterly impoverished village only visited by bold or desperate travelers taking a shortcut northwest. Though technically under the domain of Blackbream, the true authority in this region is a group of bandits known as the Leathercloaks. N2 - Silton (Craig): A dirty town, with dirty people, in a dirty region, which is famous for exporting its dirt. Silton sits atop an ancient delta that still contains rich soil that can be exported to nearby farms. Unfortunately, famine has occasionally made it something of a subsistence crop for the locals. Things have been better since the arrival of a stranger from the forest. N3 N4 - Blackbream: N5 - Gulch: A rock strewn, ruin-pocked, dwarf-worshipping area populated by many of the least desirable types in the Bream. Chief among them are the Redpates, a Dwarvophile cult that tries to correct human genetic weakness by scalping themselves and attaching the skin and hair to their face. Chief resources include stone, tools, artifacts, and craftsmen. N6 - Moldermouth The eastern entrance to the Bream, Moldermouth is trying to attach itself to the much more prosperous land of Ravenmark to the east. N7 O - Ravenmark A land of notable wealth and prestige, Ravenmark benefits from the highest concentration of the still-active mines of ancient Belgrod. Gems, metals, precious elements, and rare reagents are the prime products and exports of this region. As a result of the mineral wealth, its aristocracy is among the wealthiest in the East and its people enjoy a high standard of living; all of which is protected by the flower of the Bream’s knighthood. Their main rivals, the Ascendants of Calladon and their Avitian allies, have issued several ultimatums in order to create a casus belli. ' ' O1 - Villa Primus: The private manor and baronial lands of the Bretton clan and its Patron, Eustace. The land is well-patrolled with garrisons in every village and efficient governors and magistrates overseeing the people, trade, and traffic. Patron Eustace’s power extends far beyond the borders of Ravenmark, as does his reputation for political acumen. O2 - Villa Secundus: Victor Cross and the Ribalde clan hold sway in this region. Their mines produce the least valuable metals (iron, copper, etc.), but are the most plentiful. This presents interesting challenges, which the clan has met by establishing many branch families and placing each in charge of individual operations. Their warriors are credited with repelling the Feanydd Reconquest and with the destruction of the Red Inquisition. O3 - Villa Tertius: The newly appointed 3rd clan, the Desiderius led by Nilus of the same name, purchased their place in Ravenmark after fleeing from the devastation wrought upon their home of Carnassus. They are a rich and resourceful clan and Nilus, in particular, is known for his skill in war and statesmanship. However, their situation is precarious and they are outliers at court. O4 - Villa Quartus Rex: Home of the current ruling clan, the Oivos, and the rotating kingship, held by Sebastian Oivos, is the home territory of the cartel that controls reagent supply and distribution throughout Ravenmark. Their powerful allies in Armigon and Calladon have often intervened in local affairs to ensure continuous access to the Oivos reagent mines and markets. They are unpopular neighbors in the best of times and times have not been great as of late. O5 - Villa Quintus: A broken land of the extinct Grappa clan. Several months ago disease swept through the land and was quarantined by its neighbors. The border crossings were the sites of horrific bloodbaths as the rest of Ravenmark sought to contain the pathogen’s spread. They were successful, but the clan and its people were lost; no one has ventured inside since. O6 - Villa Sextus: A picturesque estate of meadows and gorges, used mostly as a tourist destination for Ravenmark’s elite. The Guidicce clan is the oldest and most deeply rooted of the 9 (now 8) great clans. Matron Danille has been in negotiations with neighbors to acquire more regions (most recently Moldermouth of the Bream) and expand their industry. O7 - Villa Septus: The poorest of Ravenmark’s regions also shares the most in common with neighboring Blackbream. Many in Ravenmark fear spillage from Blackbream’s years of war and chaos. Burgess Lombard and the Lombardi clan have been working for years to attract investment in studying their ruins and artifacts. Primophile camps crop up frequently, but are always temporary and the region’s people are migrating north to find better work and a better life. O8 - Villa Octus: Locked in a persistent state of guerilla warfare, the Drumholt and Blythe clans are in a state-sanctioned struggle for control. Many villages have been burned and mercenary forces scour the countryside in preparation for wintering in the mountains. Though trade has largely halted, the land’s gem production has continued to be strong. Other families are looking hungrily at the growing stockpiles and measuring the risks of weighing in on the conflict. O9 - Villa Decimus: 9 is an evil number in Ravenmarkish culture. Most things do not have a 9th floor, a 9th room, and most people even count 9 silently. This land, despite its name, seems to have experienced a great deal of evil in its time. The land is scarred and the countryside is overrun by brigands. However, the road into and out of the capital is surrounded by high and heavily guarded walls, as is the city itself. It is the home of the Ravenmark Treasury, which houses most of the material wealth of each of the families. The Sorrento clan, led by Otto Daguerreo Sorrento, are its caretakers; a duty they take more seriously than all of their others. Their power is derived from their access to sensitive information and the ability to hold resources hostage, which only feeds into the system over which they preside. P P1 P2 P3 P4 - Point Trevan: P5 P6 Q Q1 R R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 S S1 S2 S3 S4 ' ' T T1 T2 U U1 V V1 W - Armigon A famously neutral civilization of dark-skinned wizards, Armigon is an island chain that deals in fish, pearls, obsidian, and magic trinkets. It has no centralized leadership, but an archmage known as the High Arcanist speaks for their confederation when required. W1 - Polemics - Location of most Bastions and of the Council of Scholars and the chief commercial hub of the archipelago. W2 - Catharsis - A place of rest and contemplation for mages of many walks. Tends to be a place to vacation, sequester, or for punitive reflection. Location of pearl collecting beaches and several workshops. W3 - Sustenance - the breadbasket island of the archipelago and the location of most training ranges and military ports.